Budget: Consumers to complain to food companies

Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivers his budget in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa March 29, 2012.

Photograph by: REUTERS/Chris Wattie
, National Post

OTTAWA — The federal government wants consumers to complain directly to food companies for some labelling problems as part of cost-cutting at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The initiative, outlined in the federal budget that expects the agency to cut $56.1 million from its overall budget by the next fiscal year, comes after an internal review of CFIA's role in policing food labels.

"The government will change how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency monitors and enforces non-health and non-safety food labelling regulations. The CFIA will introduce a web-based label verification tool that encourages consumers to bring validated concerns directly to companies and associations for resolution."

Examples of "non-health and non-safety" food labelling rules include things such as grading of meat products and the net quantity of items.

In a statement, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the government "is committed to making sure consumers have the information they need about their food, which is why CFIA will continue to respond to consumer complaints."

Ritz added: "These online tool will help guide industry on non-health and non-safety labeling such as grading, net quantity, size, and method of production. Equipping stakeholders with an additional way to assess labeling will help promote and facilitate compliance by providing consistent information for all users."

Despite an overall cut to CFIA's budget, the government announced an extension of food-safety initiatives unveiled in the wake of a deadly listeriosis outbreak in 2008. That outbreak was linked to tainted deli meat at a federally inspected plant.

As part of a plan to focus its resources on its core mandate of food safety, a total of $51.2 million will be spent over the next two years to strengthen Canada's food safety system. This means that the increased frequency of government inspections at meat processing plants, put in place after the listeriosis outbreak, will continue rather than be wound down as initially planned.

This is an extension of a three-year commitment, made in 2009, to invest $75 million through to the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year to fix problems in Canada's meat inspection system.

Separately, the Public Health Agency of Canada will see a cut of $68 million to its overall budget by 2014-15, while Health Canada will see its departmental budget cut by $200.6 million.

The federal budget also restates what Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the provinces last December: legislation will be introduced to keep the current six-per-cent annual increase for the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) for five more years.

Starting in 2017-18, the health transfer will then grow according to a three-year moving average of nominal GDP growth, with funding guaranteed to increase by at least three per cent per year.

The government will also introduce legislation to provide protection so that no province or territory will receive less than its 2013-14 CHT cash allocation in subsequent years as a result of the move to equal per capita cash.

Changes to the Registered Disability Savings Plans were also announced in the federal budget to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of the plans, geared to help families plan for the long-term financial health of children with disabilities as they age.

These are expected to cost the government $1 million this upcoming fiscal year, to increase to $3 million by 2014-15.

As well, the list of expenses eligible for the Medical Expense Tax Credit will be expanded to include blood coagulation monitors for people requiring anti-coagulation therapy. The government expects this to cost the treasury $3 million.

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